Up and Down Wall Street

That Airline Racket

What's worse: Allowing passengers to make cellphone calls on planes or creating a near-oligopoly?

As Thanksgiving approaches and we prepare to celebrate by overeating and drinking, watching mindless parades and pigskin contests, and falling into tryptophan-induced stupors, followed by manic rushes to malls, spare a thought of gratitude for those selfless public servants whose task it is to oversee the nation's airlines.

Now, if you are among the legions who have the misfortune to fly on the heaviest traffic days of the year around Thanksgiving, you can look forward to being herded through seemingly endless airport...